Today I attended the Wolverhampton City Fairtrade Partnership’s AGM.

I was inspired to hear about all the fantastic work that the partnership has been doing and the widespread support for the partnership across the city too.

Wolverhampton’s history of Fairtrade kicked off in 1991 where we saw the first Fairtrade shop opening and the selling of Fairtrade products. In 2004, the City became a Fairtrade city and in 2016 the Fairtrade Foundation renewed that status.
I was particularly impressed with the University of Wolverhampton’s commitment to Fairtrade products and in the last 12 months the University has sold 197,000 Fairtrade drinks. In November 2016, the University opened a Starbucks on their city centre campus and I was impressed to hear how integral Fairtrade was in their tendering process for the coffee shop opening.

Finally, I went on to visit the Fairtrade Shop on Darlington Street in Wolverhampton and I was impressed by the hard work of the volunteers and staff in the shop. They have a wide range of products including; food, chocolates, clothing, bags, scarves and much more and most importantly the Wolverhampton Chocolate bar!